Whatcom County strong in prelims, 11 chances for state titles

Six individual swimmers and five relay teams from Whatcom County qualified for the state finals in the Class 2A Girls’ Swimming State Championships.

“Whatcom County really stepped up, we had good swims all around,” Sehome coach Don Helling said in a phone interview.

Three of the six individual swimmers from Whatcom County have qualified for the 100 backstroke final. Sehome’s Gwendolyn Roley, Alia Malella and Megan Mundell will be swimming on Saturday, Nov. 15, for a state championship in that event.

“We’re very pleased with our swims tonight,” Helling said.

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Squalicum has two relay teams that will be competing on Saturday for a state championship and one competing in the consolation final. A sixth place finish in the 200 medley relay and a fourth-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay will compete for top honores, while an 11th-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay puts them in the consolation final Saturday.

Sehome will have all three of its relay teams competing for titles. With a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay, a fourth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay and an eighth-place finish in the 200 medley relay.

“Getting all three relays in is outstanding,” Helling said.

Bellingham’s Chloe Steinkamp advances to the consolation final Saturday in the 200 individual medley after finishing 12th in the preliminaries, and Sunni Sturnhagen also advances to the consolation final after placing 15th in the diving preliminaries. A 16th-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay will advance Bellingham’s team into the consolation final, as well.

Squalicum’s Serena Allendorfer placed first in the preliminaries for the 100 freestyle, third in the 50 freestyle and will be swimming on the two relay teams in the state finals. Yanran Le placed third in the 100 breaststroke, sixth in the 200 individual medley and also will be swimming in the two relays Squalicum qualified for. Abby VonFeldt placed ninth in the 100 backstroke, which places her in the consolation final, and she will be swimming for Squalicum’s 400 freestyle relay race for the consolation final.

Sehome’s Roley finished fourth in the 100 backstroke and sixth in the 200 freestyle, advancing to the championship final in each race. She also will swim in the 200 and 400 freestyle relay final. Hannah Holmgren, who placed sixth in the 100 freestyle and seventh in the 100 breaststroke, will swim in the championship finals individually and as part of the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay.

Ellie Poehlman of Sehome seeded 10th in the 500 Freestyle and 11th in the 200 freestyle, advancing to the consolation final. She also wil swim in the 400 freestyle finals. Sophie Grambo will swim in the 50 freestyle consolation final after a 16th seed in the preliminaries and will swim in the 100 freestyle after an 11th seed finish.

Sehome’s Mundell also will be swim individually in the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke after a 16th and an eighth, respectively. Malella will swim individually in the 500 freestyle and the 100 backstroke after an eighth and a sixth seed finish respectively.

“As a team I am pleased with how we did and I expect us to continue with some great final races tomorrow,” Helling said.